How Vanessa Williams is thriving in her 60s thanks to ‘game-changer’ Mounjaro and vampire facials – exclusive

Vanessa Williams walks into the restaurant of London’s Broadwick Soho Hotel with the assurance of someone who knows precisely where she belongs.

In the past year, she has become a familiar presence on the British cultural circuit, sitting on the front row at Burberry next to Sir Elton John and air-kissing designers at the British Fashion Awards. It is not the high‑wattage entrance of a visiting star, but the measured confidence of someone who feels right at home.

For just over a year, Williams has anchored the West End production of The Devil Wears Prada, inhabiting the lead character of Miranda Priestley with an authority that segues from a withering “that’s all” to a high-octane song and dance number.

The show’s run has been extended until September, but she’s showing no signs of fatigue, despite a gruelling schedule of eight shows a week. If anything, it seems to have energised the 62-year-old New Yorker. 

Now, she settles down to chat about the latest chapter in a career that has spanned four decades. “It’s just delightful to still be in the game,” she says.

Candid confession

© Andrew Woffinden

Vanessa’s refreshingly candid nature, inherited from her straight-talking mother, extends to chatting about what she does to look so great at 62.

She tells me that she’s been having a facial treatment called P5 with Dr Sach Mohan. It involves polynucleotides, hyaluronic acid and an updated version of the “vampire facial”, where your blood is extracted, spun to separate the platelet-rich fibrin and injected back into your face. 

“I’ve done it three times and definitely see a difference,” she says. She also uses a handheld Ziip device, which connects to an app on her phone and has different settings for tightening, plumping, contouring and even tackling spots. 

“It was created by the make-up artist Melanie Simon, who I worked with when I was doing Desperate Housewives,” Vanessa says. “She sent me one and I’ve been using it for 15 years.” 

She even casually mentions that she’s been on tirzepatide – the GLP-1 drug better known as Mounjaro in the UK – for two years. “It’s a game‑changer,” she says. “When I turned 60, I was like: ‘I want to be here for a long time, and I want to look my best. So what am I going to do?’

“My fifties were hard. I started perimenopause in my late forties but suddenly, at 51, it’s crazy how your body changes. You feel out of control because you’re working out the same way, eating the same, and your body is not reacting the way it used to.” 

Vanessa is also on HRT and has just started NAD+ injections, which are said to support cellular rejuvenation. “Science is amazing,” she says. “I’m like: ‘What’s next? Bring it on!'”

Reaching new heights 

The actress, singer and model was the first black woman to be crowned Miss America when she was a 20-year-old student, and went on to find success in the music industry, enjoying a hit with 1992’s ‘Save the Best for Last’. 

She became better known for her acting in the early 2000s, appearing as a magazine editor in Ugly Betty and portraying one of the impossibly glamorous Desperate Housewives.

She is currently playing magazine boss Miranda Priestly in the stage version of The Devil Wears Prada in London’s West End, which features music composed by Sir Elton John. She says Dame Anna Wintour, on whom her character is based, was at the opening night but didn’t stay for the show. 

“She came to our opening night, but didn’t see it,” Vanessa says. “She did the red carpet, I think as a favour to Elton. Hopefully one day she’ll sneak in and see what we’ve done.”

Elton and his husband David Furnish have welcomed Vanessa to their home. “I’ve been to their house a few times and had some lovely meals,” she says.

Vanessa tells how her mother Helen sat next to Elton at the show in December 2024, shortly before she died of complications from acute liver failure.

“She died on a Saturday morning, and I did both shows that day, the matinee and the evening performance,” she recalls. “In the second act, there’s a scene where I cry, which was very cathartic.”

Having divorced three times, the mother of four and grandmother of one is currently single. “We’ll see what happens in the future,” she says. “I believe in love, and I love being in love, but I’m not desperate for love. It happens when it’s meant to happen.”

She adds: “There’s an ease and wisdom that comes with age. It’s just delightful to still be in the game.”

Interview by: Rosamund Dean